WWII vet Shepperd enjoyed a laugh

Jim Shepperd lit up the room with his storytelling, but the joke always seemed to be on him.

That’s the way he liked it.

“He didn’t make fun of people,” Gary Legard said of his fellow veteran. “He made fun of himself.”

Shepperd, whose name was synonymous with Memorial Day, Veterans Day and Fourth of July parades in Coeur d’Alene, died in his sleep on Tuesday. He was 90.

James Shepperd Jr., Shepperd’s son, said his father’s storytelling had many — himself included — believing the tales.

“I grew up thinking that Father Cataldo, who lived in the 1800s, was his high school football coach,” James said with a laugh. “I brought that up in class, and I think I got a D in Idaho history in the fourth grade because of what he said”/Brian Walker, Coeur d’Alene Press. More here.